Extensible golf club

ABSTRACT

A golf club which includes interconnected segments which can be added to extend the length thus providing an inexpensive alternative to buying new golf clubs. The segments are securely connected to achieve a rigid and sturdy golf club which can grow longer as a child grows taller. The segments preferably have a threaded male/female connection with epoxy applied to the threads followed by the added security of a roll pin inserted into the connection.

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This is a continuation application of U.S. Application forLetters Patent Serial No. 10/084,286, filed Feb. 25, 2002, which is acontinuation of U.S. Application for Letters Patent Serial No.09/351,749, filed Jul. 8, 1999, abandoned, which is a continuation ofU.S. Application for Letters Patent Serial No. 08/986,895, filed Dec. 8,1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,412, issued Dec. 7, 1999; all of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates to a golf club which is extensible inlength. This invention allows a child to start playing golf with a shortgolf club and to simply add new segments to lengthen the club as thechild grows rather than buying new, longer clubs.

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] Golf is enjoyed as both a competitive sport and as an exerciseactivity. The age group of people taking up golf has become younger.This is particularly true due to the recent successes of youngprofessional golfers which has made the game popular among children andparents. Manufacturers have responded to this demand by producing golfclubs in a variety of lengths which will accommodate people of allsizes. However, buying a club of a shorter length does not allow a childto use the club for very long. As the young golfer grows, he or she mustcontinually replace the club as it becomes too short. There isaccordingly a need for a golf club having an extensible length which canbe increased as the child's height increases. This golf club must alsobe sturdy and rigid in order to provide maximum benefit to the child'sgame.

[0006] Some U.S. patents which show variations to shafts of golf clubsare U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,029,860; 5,609,336; 5,282,619; 5,328,174;5,024,438; 5,496,029; 1,650,183; 3,102,726; and 3,424,464. None of theabove patents disclose a device which uses a plurality of segments toincrease the length of a golf club.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lower section ofthe upper shaft of the club ends with a collar which has a threaded maleprojection that can fit into a threaded female opening of a spacersegment. The connection is secured by a roll pin which is permanentlyinserted in a hole in the barrel of the spacer segment and through ahole in the threaded male projection, the end result being the additionof permanent growth or extension which cannot be disassembled. Newspacer segments can continually be added by placing the threaded femaleopening of each new spacer segment over the threaded male projection ofthe last-attached spacer segment. A roll pin used as described abovesecures the connection. The upper section of the lower shaft of the clubends with a collar which has a threaded female opening to receive thethreaded male projection of the bottom or last-attached spacer segment.This connection is secured with a removable roll pin which can beremoved to permit the addition of more spacer segments as the childgrows.

[0008] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, thethreaded male projections are about ¾ of an inch long and themale/female connections are further secured by the application of anepoxy to the threads prior to connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the golf club embodying thepresent invention with one spacer segment in place;

[0010]FIG. 2 is an exploded fragmentary view with parts broken away ofthe upper and lower shaft portions of the invention connected by twospacer segments;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view depicting one spacersegment connecting the upper and lower shafts of the golf club; and.

[0012]FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in partial vertical sectionillustrating how the upper shaft, eight spacer segments, and the lowershaft are connected when the club is in its maximum extended form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0013] Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a golf club 10. Broadlyspeaking, the golf club 10 includes a lower shaft 12, a midsection 14,and an upper shaft 16.

[0014] Upper shaft 16 of golf club 10 has a lower end 18 fitted with afirst collar 20. First collar 20 terminates in a threaded maleprojection 22 (shown in FIG. 2) which has a pin hole 23. FIG. 1illustrates an upper end 24 of upper shaft 16 covered with a handle 26.

[0015] Lower shaft 12 has an upper end 28 which terminates in a secondcollar 30. Second collar 30 has a pin hole 31 and a threaded femaleopening 32 (shown in FIG. 2). FIG. 1 illustrates the club head 34 whichis attached to a lower end 36 of the lower shaft 12.

[0016] Midsection 14 is composed of spacer segment 38(a) in FIG. 1. InFIG. 2, midsection 14 contains spacer segment 38(a) and spacer segment38(b). Referring to FIG. 4, the midsection 14 has spacer segments 38(a)through 38(h). Turning to FIG. 2, spacer segment 38(a) has a threadedfemale opening 40 and a threaded male projection (not shown). SpacerSegment 38(b) has a threaded female opening (not shown) and a threadedmale projection 42. Each spacer segment added to the golf club 10 has asimilar structure and further includes a pin hole 44 on its threadedmale projection, a pin hole 46 on its barrel 48, and a wrench flat 49.

[0017] Referring to FIG. 2, spacer segment 38(a) has a threaded femaleopening 40 which threadably receives threaded male projection 22. A rollpin 50 is inserted through pin hole 46 of spacer segment 38(a) and pinhole 23 of the threaded male projection 22, thus reinforcing theconnection.

[0018] Still referring to FIG. 2, second collar 30 has a threaded femaleopening 32 for threadably receiving the threaded male projection 42 ofsecond spacer segment 38(b). Threaded male projection 42 has a pin hole44 through its entire diameter, and second collar 30 has a pin hole 31which is reflected across the threaded female opening 32 (shown inbreakaway) thus permitting a removable roll pin 52 to be inserted whenthreaded male projection 42 is threadably received by threaded femaleopening 32. This secures second spacer segment 38(b) to second collar 30of lower shaft 12.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment, each threaded male projection is about¾ of an inch in length, and the barrel 48 has a length (J) of about 1inch. The spacer segments can be of varying sizes and lengths, butpreferably they are substantially similar to one another.

[0020]FIG. 2 also illustrates how the spacer segments look whenconnected to one another. Spacer segment 38(b) has a threaded femaleopening (not shown) which receives the threaded male projection (notshown) of spacer segment 38(a). A roll pin 54 is inserted through spacersegment 38(b) and the male projection (not shown) of spacer segment38(a) resulting in a secure connection between the two spacer segments.This connection can be repeated numerous times between many spacersegments. Flat 49 is provides a gripping surface for tightening theconnections.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the golf club lengthcan be potentially increased by up to eight spacer segments as shown inFIG. 4 where spacer segments 38(a)-38(h) are interconnected by the samemale/female and roll pin connection described above. Spacer segment38(a) is secured to a first collar 20 by a roll pin 50. Eighth spacersegment 38(h) is secured to a second collar 30 by a removable pin 52.

[0022]FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the connections when the golfclub is lengthened by only one spacer segment. An upper shaft 16 iscovered by a handle 14. A lower end 18 of upper shaft 16 ends in a firstcollar 20. An upper end 28 of lower shaft 12 is fitted with a secondcollar 30. A spacer segment 38(a) has a threaded female opening 40 whichthreadably receives a threaded male projection 22 of first collar 20.This connection is secured by a roll pin 50. Second collar 30 has athreaded female opening 32 which threadably receives a threaded maleprojection 56 of spacer segment 38(a). This connection is secured by aremovable roll pin 52. Each time a user wishes to lengthen the golfclub, he or she can withdraw removable roll pin 52 and add anotherspacer segment by putting the new spacer segment's threaded femaleopening over the threaded male projection of the most recently attachedspacer segments. The user then connects the new spacer segment'sthreaded male projection to second collar 30 by way of the abovedescribed male/female connection followed by reinsertion of removableroll pin 52.

[0023] It will be appreciated that this unusual feature of addingsegments permits a child to use the same golf club for quite some time.Furthermore, club head 34 (FIG. 1) could be any golf head that the userdesires, not just the one shown. Placing an amount of epoxy on themale/female connection and inserting a roll pin through that connectionprovides the same strong, rigid shaft of a one piece golf club. Thesefeatures save money for the families of children who play golf and givechildren from a wide range of economic backgrounds the ability to affordquality equipment.

1. An extensible golf club comprising: a club head; a handle; and ashaft coupled to the club head and the handle, the shaft including atleast one spacer segment operable to selectively adjust the length ofthe shaft, and configured for maintaining the integrity of the shaft asan integral member.
 2. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the at leastone spacer segment is removably attachable to the shaft.
 3. The golfclub of claim 2, wherein the at least one spacer segment includes afemale portion and a male portion for coupling to a first portion and asecond portion of the shaft.
 4. The golf club of claim 3, wherein the atleast one spacer segment is configured for coupling with a first portionand a second portion of the shaft.
 5. The golf club of claim 4, whereinthe at least one spacer segment includes one spacer segment.
 6. The golfclub of claim 3, wherein the at least one spacer segment includes aplurality of spacer segments.
 7. The golf club of claim 6, wherein eachof said spacer segments is configured for coupling with one of: a) aspacer segment and a portion of the shaft; or b) two spacer segments. 8.An extensible golf club comprising: a shaft formed of a first portionand a second portion; and at least one spacer member configured forcoupling the first shaft portion to the second shaft portion andconfigured for maintaining the integrity of the shaft as an integralmember when the first and second shaft portions are coupled thereto. 9.The golf club of claim 8, wherein the at least one spacer memberincludes a first end including a female-type receiving port and a secondend including a male-type connector.
 10. The golf club of claim 9,wherein the at least one spacer member includes one spacer member. 11.The golf club of claim 10, wherein the female-type receiving port on thespacer member is configured for engaging a correspondingly configuredmale portion on the first shaft portion and the male-type connector isconfigured for engaging a correspondingly configured female receivingportion of the second shaft portion.
 12. The golf club of claim 9,wherein the at least one spacer member includes a plurality of spacermembers.
 13. The golf club of claim 12, wherein the female-typereceiving port on the spacer member is configured for engaging acorrespondingly configured male portion on either of the first shaftportion or a spacer member, and the male-type connector is configuredfor engaging a correspondingly configured female receiving portion oneither of the second shaft portion or a spacer member.
 14. An apparatusfor extending a golf club comprising: at least one spacer memberconfigured for coupling a first portion of a golf club to a secondportion of the golf club, and configured for maintaining the integrityof the golf club as an integral member when the first and second golfclub portions are coupled together.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein the at least one spacer member includes a first end including afemale-type receiving port and a second end including a male-typeconnector.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, additionally comprising: afirst portion of a golf club and a second portion of a golf club. 17.The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first portion of a golf clubincludes a shaft portion in communication with a handle and the secondportion of the golf club includes a shaft portion in communication witha head.
 18. A spacer member for extending the length of a golf clubcomprising: a body configured for coupling a first portion of a golfclub to a second portion of the golf club, and configured formaintaining the integrity of the golf club as an integral member whenthe first and second golf club portions are coupled together.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the body includes a first end including afemale-type receiving port and a second end including a male-typeconnector.
 20. An extensible golf club comprising: a club headpresenting a substantially flat ball-striking surface; a handle; and ashaft coupled to the club head and the handle, said shaft including atleast one spacer segment operable to selectively adjust the length ofthe shaft, said shaft being configured to prevent telescopic adjustmentof the length thereof.
 21. An extensible golf club as claimed in claim20, said shaft including a normally lower portion coupled to the clubhead and a normally upper portion coupled to the handle, said spacersegment being adapted to be coupled between the lower portion and theupper portion.
 22. An extensible golf club as claimed in claim 21, saidshaft being non-retractable.
 23. An extensible golf club as claimed inclaim 20, said shaft including a plurality of spacer segments operableto selectively adjust the length of the shaft, each of said spacersegments including a first end and a second end, said first end of oneof said spacer segments being configured to at least partly abut asecond end of an adjacent one of said spacer segments.
 24. An extensiblegolf club as claimed in claim 23, said spacer segments beinginterchangeable.
 25. An extensible golf club as claimed in claim 23; anda locking mechanism for fixing the spacer segments relative to oneanother.
 26. An extensible golf club as claimed in claim 25, saidlocking mechanism selected from the group consisting of thread, epoxy, apin, and combinations of two or more thereof.
 27. An extensible golfclub as claimed in claim 23, said spacer segments being selectivelyinterconnectable so that multiple spacer segments can be simultaneouslyused to adjust the length of the shaft.